Adaptive bitrate (ABR) streaming of media has become a popular approach for delivering multimedia content over the Internet. Example streaming implementations use a “client-controlled” methodology in which the client requests media segments from a content server at an appropriate time, wherein data transfer typically takes place over HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP)-based networks utilizing reliable and/or unreliable transport mechanisms disposed between the media content sources and one or more clients. It should be appreciated that the infrastructure for HTTP-based streaming is far more widespread than that of other media streaming protocols such as Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) and Real Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP).
Transmission of ABR media over unreliable transport can be problematic, however. Although techniques such as forward error correction or FEC are sometimes used to improve error resilience, e.g., in an Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) application, various shortcomings and deficiencies continue to persist.